IGNORANCE IN ANTIGONE: AN ANALYSIS OF TRAGEDY IN THE LIGHT OF SOCRATIC ÉLENKHOS

Abstract

In this article, I analize the discussions that Creon’s character mantains with his various interlocutors in Antigone to show how Sophocles sets out, in a similar way to Plato, the problem of ignorance in the light of dialogue. In the fist section, I emphazise Creon’s imprudence at the start of the play, followed by an analysis of his interlocutors’ responses. Next, I highlight the figure of Socrates as the one who knows human nature and, therefore, is able to make the other think so that he or she gets better in a moral sense. I conclude, then, that it is only the philosopher who can prevent injustices like the one in this story about Thebes, to the extent that he or she seeks and mantains a dialogical encounter